Five stars! What a fun ride! Pilot Bill Hoffman is called in at the last minute to fly from Los Angeles to New York. He is quickly alerted that his family has been kidnapped. The kidnapper has given him an ultimatum to either crash the plane or he will kill his family. Will he choose to save his family or the plane full of passengers? The book starts off pretty quickly. I loved the fast pace and short chapters. Someone please make this into a movie! Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This summers new releases are dropping and they are absolutely hot and on fire!! This one drops tomorrow and if you haven’t preordered it, something is wrong with you.

The hype of this book is real and worth it. You feel as though you are watching this story unfold with your very own eyes. This suspense is there and you can’t stop reading for even a second, bring that kindle to the bathroom y’all. A flight captain stuck with an impossible choice of saving his own family or the 140+ souls on board, the men responsible chose the wrong man because Bill refuses to choose and tells them that to their faces. A five hour flight to JFK from LAX, is there time to do anything to change the course of these men after retaliation?

I can’t even express the beat of my heart as I turned the pages, it was intense. Not knowing what would happen in the very next paragraph was just something that you don’t always get in a book. Not to mention, this drama was created by a brand new author trained as a flight attendant, this goodness reminds me of writing from a seasoned author.

Thank you to Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, TJ and NetGalley for the review copy! This was better than I expected and I can’t wait to hear what others think!

Falling is one of those action-packed thrillers that manages to masterfully pull you right into the story and then holds your attention all the way to the end. This debut novel, by real-life flight attendant T. J. Newman, certainly lives up to the hype.
Captain Bill Hoffman is called by his boss to captain an L.A. to New York flight on his day off—and an important day for his son. Unable to turn down the request, Bill finds himself mid-air when he gets a message from his wife’s phone that leads to a horrifying revelation. His wife and children are being held hostage. Bill must make an impossible decision: crash the plane with 144 people, or his family will be killed. Instead he boldly responds, “You will not kill my family and I will not crash this plane.”
What I really appreciate about this book is that this isn’t Bill being the hero and saving the day. This is a collaborative story about several people—captain, crew, and people on the ground—working together to thwart a catastrophe. The secondary characters are just as well-developed as the main character, each has their own history, demeanor, and motivation.
Falling is one of those books I had trouble putting down and thought about even when I wasn’t reading. I highly recommend this book…unless you’re preparing to board a plane (especially an L.A to NY flight!).

**I received a digital ARC of Falling from Simon & Schuster and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

WOW!! What a ride.

"When the shoe dropped into her lap the foot was still in it."

I mean when a book opens with this scene, you know it is going to be absolutely explosive. I saw so many rave reviews about this book and I will say that this book absolutely lives up to all the hype. Is it 100% perfect? No, but I am still giving this story 5 stars for the inventive story, non-stop action and thoroughly engaging characters.

I have listened to a lot of outstanding audiobooks this year and 'Falling' is no exception. With outstanding narration by the actor Steven Weber, this book needs to be on your to-read list. Bill Hoffman is a seasoned pilot with a successful, upstart airline. He has a gorgeous wife and two children. He works too much and on this particular flight, feels guilty for missing his son's game. But duty calls and Bill leaves his wife Carrie after an argument. There is a small window for them to communicate before he is in the air, and from here the book really takes off (pardon the pun!)

If you were the captain of a flight, would you agree to the demands of a terrorist who has kidnapped your family? This is the deceptively simple demand at the heart of this book. The terrorizer on the ground has a back-up plan, too, in case Bill refuses to crash the plane. Bill seems to be in an impossible situation, So, what would you do?

The author, a former flight attendant, has a thorough command of aviation rules and what goes on behind the scenes on board a commercial airline. The action is literally non-stop, and the tension and suspense are sustained throughout the book. I loved reading about the nuances of flying and the flight crew's duties. The synopsis tells you all you need to know about the story, and I applaud the author for creating such an entertaining and suspenseful novel.

Of course this book has already been optioned for a movie and what a thrill it will be to watch this on the big screen! All of the characters felt very realistic to me and even the villains (yes there are several) garnered some sympathy from me. I am being vague about the details because there are several surprises in this book and I don't want to spoil the fun of reading or listening!

"Here we are. You're finally being forced to see the truth."

"What truth?"

"The truth that people are only as good as the world lets them be. You're not inherently good and I'm not inherently bad . . . So putting you in this position, dealing you these cards — what does a good guy do now? It's not about the crash, Bill. It's about the choice. It's about good people seeing they're no different from bad people." He looked from Bill to Carrie. "You've just always had the luxury of choosing to be good."

Explosive, action-packed and intelligent, 'Falling' is one of my favorite books this year!

From the moment that I read the opening pages of this book I was hooked. T.J. Newman called on all of her knowledge and experience as a flight attendant to make you feel that you were flying along with the crew of Flight 416. Shortly after take-off, Captain Bill Hoffman receives an e-mail informing him that his wife and children are being held hostage by a terrorist. In order to save his family he must crash his plane at a destination to be revealed later. If he refuses to decide between his family and his passengers, the terrorist has an accomplice on the plane as a back-up plan. Not allowed to tell anyone what is happening, he decides to take Jo, an experienced flight attendant, into his confidence. Even though he can not warn anyone, Jo messages her nephew Theo, an FBI agent, who sets a rescue operation in motion. Jo has worked with Bill for years and knows he will do what he can, but she and her crew are responsible for the cabin and they take what actions they can to prepare for whatever may come.

Sam, the terrorist who has taken Bill’s family, is originally from Syria. He has lost his family back home and has taken this action to call attention to what has happened in Syria as people in America live their lives oblivious to the deaths and destruction. His attack was well planned and he manages to evade the FBI with his hostages as time for Bill’s decision runs down. Through it all, Bill insists that he will not crash his plane or lose his family. It takes co-operation and faith in his crew And family to keep him going, but Sam has some surprises that no one sees coming. For anyone who travels, Falling shows the crew of a plane in a new light - well-trained and ready to do whatever is needed to ensure the safety of the souls on board. This is a tense and suspenseful book that is a must read. I would like to thank NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon and Schuster for providing this book for my review.

“I’m not going to crash this plane and you’re not going to kill my family.”

FALLING is the most anticipated debut thriller of the summer, and I couldn’t put it down! I’ve had this one for a while but waited until my summer air travel was behind me…and I’m so glad I did 😅 I was on the edge of my seat reading this one, eager to see how the captain would handle the impossible decision in front of him: save his family or save his plane full of passengers. the flight attendant background @tj_author brings to the novel is evident: the details of the flight and plane and in-flight procedures gave the story a very real feel. highly recommend this thriller! 4.5/5⭐️—I really liked it!

Absolutely magnificent. Writing a story that is taking place with such high tension drama on parallel scenes and making it work is to be applauded. The characters were marvelous. Sam, Jo, and Big Daddy will be unforgettable. Carrie and the kids will break your heart with their stoicism. It is a story of grace under pressure, but also of trust that people when faced with impossible odds will choose to do the right thing. The author did a marvelous job of heightening the tension while giving us just a glimpse of what it might be like to truly experience this situation. Bravo!

Falling by T.J. Newman is an edge of your seat thriller that takes you on a roller coaster of emotions. What would you do to save your family? And what if that choice isn't simple? If you save your family, other people die. If you sacrifice your family, will the other people really get to live? There are no easy answers. The writing is taunt, and moves the story along at a fast pace. Characters are well developed and the pacing is excellent. The scariest part? It could happen.

The plot of Falling by T. J Newman is unique and stunning. An experienced airline pilot's family is taken hostage by a terrorist. The pilot is aboard his flight from LA to NY when he is given the choice to crash his plane or have his family killed. The pilot is advised to tell know one and that there is a co-terrorist aboard the plane. This premise is unfathomable and it makes for a thrilling read. The characters and their stories make this novel impossible to put down.

Read this book.

Read. This. Book.

Do not read this book if you are traveling by plane at this moment.

If you are not traveling by this plane at this moment, read this book.

Holy everything.

Are you in the mood for an action packed summer thriller? No flights planned in your near future? Then I suggest diving into Falling by TJ Newman.

The description from the publisher: You just boarded a flight to New York. There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers on board. What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped. For his family to live, everyone on your flight must die. The only way the family will live is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane. Enjoy the flight.

I mean - that pretty much gives you exactly what to expect. The author is also a former flight attendant which I thought was interesting to know. I listened to the audiobook which was excellent - really kept me glued to the story waiting to see what would happen next.

Thank you to the publisher, Librofm and Netgalley for the advance reading and listening copies.

This is a book with lots of action, tension, and suspense about a pilot whose family is being held hostage until he crashes the plane he's flying. Although not my typical type of read I found it engaging. The author's story as to how the book came about is interesting, too. She's a flight attendant who wrote much of the book while on red-eye shifts and had forty-one rejections before the book was sold.

An excellent thriller taking place far above our heads.

We've all thought about it--the idea of terror while flying high in the sky. Newman brings that to life with a pulse-pounding thriller I couldn't put down. Though I appreciated all the characters and what they added to the story, I found myself wanting a little more connection to Carrie, the main character. I loved the tension around the decisions Bill had to make--and their repercussions.

Will grab the next book by this author for sure!

4.5 ⭐️‘s
What a debut by newcomer T.J. Newman, a flight attendant that suffered through 41 rejection letters before finding the perfect agent on her 42nd try! Pretty sure the other 41 aren’t too happy about their choice about now! A nonstop, turbulent ride from start to finish. So buckle up and prepare for take-off, because on this flight there are no guarantees that you’ll reach your final destination.

Thank you to Avid Reader Press and Netgalley for a physical and digital copy of Falling by T.J. Newman. I love the story behind how this book came to be, with a previous flight attendant compiling the plot using airplane napkins while passengers were asleep on her flight. I am a huge aviation geek so any premise that involves planes and airports will have me chomping at the bit to read it! I just recently read a book that follows a similar story line of a hijack called Hostage and I love how close, but very different these stories are from one another.

Falling had more of the edge of your seat action that I was hoping for compared to Hostage. So much was happening between events in the cockpit of the plane and down on the ground that I had no idea whether these characters would make it out of the struggles they were facing. This could definitely be adapted onto the big screen as a movie!

Despair in the air! FALLING is a five alarm fire that just won’t quit. Pilot Bill Hoffman is forced to make an impossible decision: crash the plane he is flying or his family will be killed. The first chapter had me holding my breath and the tension built from there

T.J Newman’s background as a flight attendant gave the story an utterly terrifying authenticity. I started this on my kindle and had to switch to audio to finish as fast as possible. In addition to the high-stakes plot, Falling poses thoughtful questions about how Americans operate within the broader world.

Naturally, I can’t help but compare Falling to the recently released, HOSTAGE. Both are well worth your time; the twists are shocking and the motivations for the attacks are quite different. I’m thankful I have no plans to fly in the near future. What an entertaining debut!

RATING: 4.5/5 (rounded up to 5)
AVAILABLE: July 6, 2021

A big thank you to NetGally and Avid Reader Press for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really didn’t enjoy this book at all. It started early on too. I would’ve preferred no virtue signaling but here we are. This might make a better movie than book, though. Thank you for the chance to read this. I’m sorry it wasn’t to someone who would’ve enjoyed it more.

This is a story about terror… at 36k feet.

I binge read this in a day, and it was the perfect thriller for me- fast paced, nuanced villains and a high stakes environment. The characters are developed enough to invoke empathy, and the narrative kept me guessing until the end- A+!

I also appreciated that this was a tribute to the bravery, cohesion, and skills involved in fight- from the Flight Attendants to Air Traffic Control, there are so many moving parts. I read the the author was/is? a flight attendant, so the authenticity makes perfect sense.

Will I regret reading this 3 weeks before an international flight?! Definitely maybe!

Thank you so much Netgalley , Libro.fm Avid Reader, Press & Simon and Schuster for the eArc & ALRC!

This was a fantastic haunting terrifying read!

From the prologue, I was hooked and fully enmeshed in the story. With an opening like that, I knew the story was going to be good. I finished this book in a day and a half.

Captain Bill Hoffman, for Coastal Airways, forgot about his son's game and his promise to his wife and took the flight job. This act upset his wife, Carrie, and not having enough time to discuss he told her they'd talk later.

Bill and Carrie have two children, their oldest, Scott is ten, and the baby, Elise is ten months. Elise was a surprise baby.

Carrie is expecting a technician to fix the internet and gracefully welcomes Sam with an offer to get him something to drink. Once Bill leaves, Carrie gets a rude awakening that the repairman is at her home for nefarious reasons. She and her children are about to have a harrowing experience. The repairman was a ruse from the start.

Bill arrives at the airport and clears security, but all his attempts to reach Carrie do not go through. In the cockpit, Bill's laptop pings with an incoming email that will turn Bill's world upside down. Bill, is given very direct orders where he is to respond through email and is told he has a choice to make. Bill is made to understand that there is a backup plan in place onboard already. Bill has several actions that are required of him, but he ignores a crucial one and tells a crew member.

I was glued to this story and did find parts that I could sympathize with the ones that concocted this plan involving the pain they suffered. I liked how Carrie was able to connect with her captor on a human level, and how resourceful Carrie was in delivering a message to her husband and through the media. My favorite was Big Daddy, one of the crew members, who, despite the turmoil surrounding the cabin had the most snarky replies that made me laugh out loud. One of my favorite reads this year, and I think the author's debut novel was fantastic! I look forward to reading more books by this author.

I received an ARC from NetGalley via Avid Reader Press/Simon & Shuster and I have voluntarily reviewed this book.

This is a terrific thriller. The pilot for a major airline is flying one of regular routes across the country. Shortly after takeoff, he learns that his family has been kidnapped. The kidnappers present him with an impossible choice: for his family to live, he must crash the plane. The book then explores what happens next. Full of twists and tension, the book was impossible to put down.

Highly recommend!